The Gulf Arab News

State-owned Chinese firm Sinopec signed a new 27-year LNG supply and purchase agreement with QatarEnergy, the two companies said on Saturday.Under the agreement, the two companies will cooperate on the second phase of the Gulf Arab state's North Field expansion project, which will supply 3 million metric tons of LNG per year to Sinopec.A partnership agreement was also signed under which QatarEnergy will transfer a 5% interest to Sinopec in a joint venture company that owns the equivalent of 6 million tons per year of LNG production capacity in the North Field South project.The deal, signed at

Saudi Arabia wants enhanced maritime security in the crucial Gulf region as part of its rapprochement with long-timerival Iran, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Saturday.Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed in March, in a deal brokered by China, to end a diplomatic rift and reestablish relations following years of hostility that had endangered regional stability including in the Gulf, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon."I would like to refer to the importance of cooperation between the two countries on regional security, especially the security of maritime navigation...

The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday it was no longer taking part in operations by a U.S.-led task force protecting Gulf shipping, which has been subjected to renewed tanker seizures by Iranian naval forces in recent weeks.The UAE was responding to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday which, citing U.S. and Gulf sources, said the Gulf state was frustrated by the lack of U.S. response to recent tanker seizures by Iran.This was a "mischaracterisation" of conversations between the two countries…

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have seized a foreign vessel in the Gulf for allegedly smuggling 757,000 liters of diesel out of the country, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.The unnamed vessel's seven crew members, who are foreign nationals, have been handed over to legal authorities, IRNA reported without elaborating on the nationalities of the ship or its crew.Iran, which has some of the world's cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the plunge in value of its national currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighboring countries and b

The city of Haifa is set to become an increasingly significant east Mediterranean shipping hub, with Chinese and Indian firms buying into its ports as Israel normalizes ties with its Gulf Arab neighbors under a U.S. diplomatic push.Earlier this month, as U.S. President Joe Biden visited the Middle East, India's largest port developer Adani Ports and Israeli minority partner Gadot agreed to buy Haifa Port for 4.1 billion shekels ($1.18 billion).Its founder, Asia's richest man Gautam Adani…

Iranian authorities have seized a vessel carrying 106,500 liters of smuggled fuel and arrested nine crew members, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday."On the orders of the Qeshm Prosecutor, the officers of the marine base, while identifying a vessel carrying 106,500 litres of smuggled fuel, started the process of seizing it," said the chief justice of Hormozgan province.Iran, which has some of the world’s cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the fall of its currency…

Iranian authorities seized a foreign ship attempting to smuggle fuel out of the country and detained its crew, state new agency IRNA said on Wednesday.Iran, which has some of the world's cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the plunge in value of its national currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighboring countries and by sea to Gulf Arab states.The ship, carrying more than 550,000 liters of smuggled fuel, was seized in Gulf waters and escorted to harbor in the southern province of Hormozgan, where it was handed to judicial authorities for investigation, t

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have seized a foreign vessel in the Gulf for smuggling 200,000 liters of fuel, a senior Guards commander told the semi-official Fars news agency on Sunday."The ship was seized in the northern part of the Persian Gulf.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Friday they had seized a vessel in Gulf waters loaded with 250,000 liters of smuggled fuel, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported.Iran, which has some of the world’s cheapest fuel prices due to heavy state subsidies and the fall of its currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighboring states and by sea to Gulf Arab states. It has frequently seized boats it says are being used for smuggling oil in the Gulf.The ship's seven crew have been detained, IRNA said, citing a Guards spokesman, Gholamhossein Hosseini.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday they had seized a foreign ship in Gulf waters loaded with what they described as smuggled diesel.Guards commander Ahmad Hajian said the ship's 11 crew had been detained, but did not give details on their nationality or identify the ship."After inspection, more than 150,000 liters of smuggled diesel were discovered," Iran's state broadcaster quoted Hajian as saying.The semi-official Fars news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards…

Kuwait has suspended passenger transport by sea due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic but shipping operations continue, the Gulf Arab state's ports authority said on Tuesday.The Kuwait Ports Authority said in a Twitter post that the decision went into effect on Sunday.(Reporting by Alaa Swilam; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Edmund Blair)

Egyptian startup Trella, a digital platform connecting truckers with freight loads, has raised $42 million in equity and debt, including from the venture capital arm of shipping giant Maersk, its chief executive said.Founded three years ago in Cairo, Trella operates in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. It is one of several technology firms around the world seeking to upend traditional truck brokerages.Through Trella's online platform, shippers and truckers can directly book freight loads for transport.

The United Arab Emirates has signed a 3.5 billion dirham ($950 million) contract with Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) to manufacture four new patrol vessels for the Gulf Arab state's navy, ADSB said on Tuesday.The Falaj 3-class Offshore Patrol Vessel contract was ADSB's largest ever order, which Chief Executive David Massey said gave it a sustainable and profitable future for the next five years.ADSB will build all four hulls in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, and is responsible for integrating systems, he said.Massey told Reuters ADSB first entered into talks with the UAE for the vessel contract s

A U.S. military ship fired warning shots after three vessels from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) came close to it and another American patrol boat in the Gulf, the United States military said on Tuesday.Such incidents have occurred occasionally over the past five years, though there has been a relative lull over the past year.While officials said it was too early to discern the exact motivation of the Iranian forces, they have said that generally in the past such incidents are carried out by local commanders rather than directed by senior Iranian leaders.“The U.S.

Investment company United Overseas Group (UOG) is to acquire Dubai-based shipping company United Arab Chemical Carriers (UACC), the two companies said on Thursday.The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter, they said in a statement, without disclosing the value.UOG is controlled by shipping industry veterans Peter Georgiopoulos and Leonidas Vrondissi.The sale of UACC, whose shareholders include the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, was held up in 2017 after a bitter diplomatic rift broke between the Gulf Arab states, sources familiar with matter had told Reuters.The countries agreed this week to end the dispute that had seen Saudi Arabia and some allies cut ties with Qatar over accusations it supports terrorism.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have seized a Panama-registered vessel in the Gulf suspected of smuggling 300,000 liters of fuel and detained its crew of 10, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Friday.The agency did not give the nationality of the crew members or other details of the incident in its report.Iran, which has some of the world’s cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the fall of its national currency as it faces U.S.

The ship-to-shore crane paused above the cargo ship just arrived from Dubai, then set its load down on the pier in Israel.One after another, eight containers filled with electronics, cleaning supplies, iron, and firefighting equipment were unloaded off the MSC Paris, one of the first cargo ships to make the voyage between the United Arab Emirates and Israel.Just a few months ago, such a journey from Dubai's Jebel Ali port to the northern Israeli port city of Haifa would have been unthinkable.The countries announced a normalization deal in August which laid the ground for a potentially profitable new trade route.The diplomatic breakthrough stemmed from a strategic realignment of Middle East nations…

Danish shipping giant Maersk said it will now transport ocean cargo between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, a further sign of business opening up after the two countries established full ties.Earlier this month Israel and the UAE signed an historic agreement to normalize relations, marking a big development in economic collaboration and ending a ban on trade between the Gulf Arab state and Israel.“We have opened up cargo acceptance between UAE and Israel following the lifting of the boycott,” a Maersk spokesman said.Maersk, the world’s number one container line, said any trade would be fo

Iran seized a United Arab Emirates-registered ship violating its territorial waters this week, Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, adding that UAE coastguards killed two Iranian fishermen on the same day.Tensions have risen between the two countries, which face each other across the Gulf, since last week's agreement between the Gulf state and Tehran's arch-foe Israel to normalize ties.Iranian state television quoted a ministry statement as saying that the Emirati ship was…

Iran's coast guard seized a vessel for allegedly smuggling fuel in the Gulf and detained its 12 crew members from the Philippines, the semi-official news agency ISNA reported.The vessel was carrying nearly 284,000 liters of diesel, the news agency said on Saturday.Iran, which has some of the world's cheapest fuel prices due to heavy state subsidies and the fall of its currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighboring countries and by sea to Gulf Arab states.It has frequently seized boats it says are being used for smuggling oil in the Gulf.(Reuters reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Iran was to revive maritime security talks on Tuesday with traditional foe the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in an apparent bid to calm tensions in the Gulf, although a Gulf official described the discussions as routine and technical.The talks follow weeks of heightened political friction around the strategic waterway stemming from hostility between between Tehran and Washington, the main Western ally of Gulf Arab states long wary of the Islamic Republic.The discussions had been off since 2013…

The Kuwait Ports Authority manager said on Wednesday that there is coordination between Gulf and Arab countries to secure the safety of maritime traffic in Gulf waters, state news agency KUNA reported.Sheikh Yousef Abdullah al-Nasser al-Sabah also said the impact of the latest developments in the Gulf region, after Iran seized a British-flagged tanker, was "slight on Kuwaiti ports traffic". He added that there are "alternative plans for any developments in the region," KUNA quoted him as saying.Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Omar Fahmy

Aboard USS BOXER in the Arabian Sea, a U.S. Harrier fighter jet takes off from the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer in the Arabian Sea as an oil tanker passes, a nautical mile away.The patrol is "standard" but the situation - growing tension between the United States and Iran - is not.Soon after the roar of the Harrier fades, two combat helicopters and two unmistakable Osprey aircraft with their tiltable rotors land back on the flight deck."We want to make sure that we assure allies in the region and to ensure freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce…